1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for handling cards, including cards known as “playing cards.” In particular, the invention relates to an electromechanical machine for organizing or arranging playing cards into a plurality of randomly arranged groups of cards. All references cited in this entire document are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
2. Background of the Art
Wagering games based on the outcome of randomly generated arrangements of cards are well known. Such games are widely played in gaming establishments and often a single deck of 52 playing cards is used to play the game. Some games use multiple decks of cards (typically six or eight decks), such as blackjack and baccarat. Other games use two decks of cards, such as double deck blackjack. Many specialty games use single decks of cards, with or without jokers and with or without selected cards removed. Examples of such games include THREE CARD POKER®, LET IT RIDE®, CARIBBEAN STUD POKER™, SPANISH 21®, FOUR CARD POKER®, CRAZY 4 POKER® and others. As new games are developed, card shufflers are modified to be used in connection with the new games.
From the perspective of players, the time the dealer must spend in shuffling diminishes the excitement of the game. From the perspective of casinos, shuffling time reduces the number of hands placed, reduces the number of wagers placed and resolved in a given amount of time, thereby reducing revenue. Casinos would like to increase the amount of revenue generated by a game without changing the game. One approach is to simply speed up play. One option is to decrease the time the dealer spends shuffling.
This approach has lead to the development of electromechanical or mechanical card shuffling devices. Such devices increase the speed of shuffling and dealing, thereby increasing playing time. Such devices also add to the excitement of a game by reducing the amount of time the dealer or house has to spend in preparing to play the game.
Dealers appreciate using card shufflers that place the minimum strain on the dealer's hands, back and arms. Some existing shuffler designs put unnecessary strain on the muscles of the users. Dealers prefer shufflers that are low profile, especially when the shuffler dispenses cards into a game rather than shufflers that shuffle batches of cards for shoe games.
Numerous approaches have been taken to the design of card shufflers. Among them include random ejection designs (Sines et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,299,167; 6,019,368; 5,676,372; and 5,584,483; Baker et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,959,925 and 6,698,756, for example), stack separation and insertion (Johnson et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,683,085 and 5,944,310), interleaving designs (Breeding U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,275,411 and 5,695,189), for example, random insertion using a blade (Blaha, U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,024) and designs that utilize multiple shuffling compartments.
One such example of a compartment shuffler is disclosed in Lorber et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,712. The automatic shuffling apparatus disclosed is designed to intermix multiple decks of cards under the programmed control of a computer. The Lorber et al. apparatus is a carousel-type shuffler having a container, a storage device for storing shuffled playing cards, a removing device and an inserting device for intermixing the playing cards in the container, a dealing shoe and supplying means for supplying the shuffled playing cards from the storage device to the dealing shoe. The container includes multiple card-receiving compartments, each one capable of receiving a single card.
Another shuffler having mixing compartments arranged in a carousel is disclosed in Johnson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,248. Cards are loaded into an infeed tray, fed sequentially past a card reading sensor and are inserted into compartments within a carousel to either randomize or sort cards into a preselected order. The carousel moves in two directions during shuffling. Johnson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,127 describes another variation of the shuffler, in which cards are inserted into and removed from a same side of the carousel, with the card infeed tray being located above the discard tray (see FIG. 3).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,954 (Erickson et al.) discloses a device for delivering cards, one at a time, into one of a number of vertically stacked card-shuffling compartments. The Erickson patent also discloses using a logic circuit to determine the sequence for determining the delivery location of a card, and that a card shuffler can be used to deal stacks of shuffled cards to a player.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,421 (Hoffman) discloses a card-shuffling device including a card loading station with a conveyor belt. The belt moves the lowermost card in a stack onto a distribution elevator whereby a stack of cards is accumulated on the distribution elevator. Adjacent to the elevator is a vertical stack of mixing pockets. A microprocessor preprogrammed with a finite number of distribution schedules sends a sequence of signals to the elevator corresponding to heights called out in the schedule. Each distribution schedule comprises a preselected distribution sequence that is fixed as opposed to random. Single cards are moved into the respective pocket at that height. The distribution schedule is either randomly selected or schedules are executed in sequence. When the microprocessor completes the execution of a single distribution cycle, the cards are removed a stack at a time and loaded into a second elevator. The second elevator delivers cards to an output reservoir.
Breeding U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,411 discloses a machine for automatically shuffling and dealing hands of cards. Although this device does not shuffle cards by distributing cards to multiple compartments, the machine is the first of its kind to deliver randomly arranged hands of cards to a casino card game. A single deck of cards is shuffled and then cards are automatically dispensed into a hand-forming tray. The shuffler includes a deck-receiving zone, a carriage section for separating a deck into two deck portions, a sloped mechanism positioned between adjacent corners of the deck portions, and an apparatus for snapping the cards over the sloped mechanism to interleave the cards. The Breeding shuffler was originally designed to be used in connection with single deck poker style games such as LET IT RIDE® Stud Poker and a variant of Pai Gow Poker marketed as WHO'S FIRST™ Pai Gow Poker.
In an attempt to speed the rate of play of specialty table games equipped with a shuffler, the ACE® card shuffler as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,149,154, 6,588,750, 6,655,684 and 7,059,602 was developed. This shuffler operates at faster speeds than the Breeding shuffler described above, has fewer moving parts and requires much shorter set up time than the prior Breeding design. The shuffler includes a card infeed tray, a vertical stack of shuffling compartments and a card output tray. A first card moving mechanism advances cards individually from the infeed tray into a compartment. A processor randomly directs the placement of fed cards into the compartments, and an alignment of each compartment with the first card mover, forming random groups of cards within each compartment. Groups of cards are unloaded by a second card moving mechanism into the output tray.
Another compartment shuffler capable of delivering randomly arranged hands of cards to a casino card game is the ONE2SIX® shuffler (developed by Casino Austria Research & Development (CARD)). This shuffler is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,659,460 and 6,889,979. This shuffler is capable of delivering randomly arranged hands of cards when a first delivery end is attached, and is capable of delivering a continuous supply of cards from a shoe-type structure when a second delivery end is attached. Cards are fed from a feeder individually into compartments within a carousel to accomplish random ordering of cards.
Most of the known shuffler designs are high profile and require loading cards into the rear of the machine, and then removing cards from the front of the machine. The cards must be lifted over the top of the machine to return spent cards to the infeed tray, causing a dealer to lift his arm over the top of the machine at the conclusion of each round of play.
The present ACE® shuffler as well as its predecessor BG-3 are batch type shufflers. One characteristic of a (single or double deck) batch shuffler is that when all of the cards are dispensed in a round of play, the remaining cards in the pack (one or two decks) are removed and then reinserted. In use, while the game is being dealt with a first deck, a second deck of cards is being randomized and arranged into groups. A discard rack is typically provided on the table so that cards removed from the game are staged in the rack while the other deck of cards is being processed. Following this procedure avoids the possibility that cards will be returned to the input tray and that the two decks will be intermingled. The use of two separate decks (one at a time) speeds game play because shuffling occurs during play. It would be desirable to eliminate the use of a discard tray so that cards from the two decks cannot be accidentally intermixed when a dealer fails to use the discard rack.
Sines U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,925 discloses a single deck continuous card shuffler known in the trade as the Poker One. This shuffler avoids the alternating use of two different decks of cards during a specialty card game by providing a continuous supply of cards to a card game. Although this shuffler uses only one deck of cards, the shuffler does not verify that the correct number of cards (typically 52) are present prior to each shuffle, and consequently cheating by inserting extra cards would go undetected.
Shufflers that communicate with network-based game systems have been described in the art. An example is described in U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0064798 A1. A shuffler with an on-board microprocessor and communication port communicates with a local processor and/or a central processor. The local or central processor may manage a game system.
It would be advantageous to provide a shuffler that has all of the performance attributes of known shufflers, has state of the art security features, that eliminates the need for a discard rack and provides an ergonometric design for end users.